Vacuum cleaner



Jan. 29, 1946.

G. E. LOFGREN VACUUM CLEANER 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Q INVEN'IIQRQ mm FiledOct. 10, 1942 ATTORNEY.

Jan. 29; 1946.

G. E. LOFGREN VACUUM CLEANER 3 SHeetS Sheet 2 Filed Oct. 10, 1942OOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOO 0000C BY W ATTORNEY. Y

Jan. 29, 1946.

G. EILOFG REN v VACUUM CLEANER Filed Oct. 10, 1942 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 INVENT OR.

ATTORNEY.

Patented Jan. 29, 1946 VACUUM CLEANER Gustaf Einar Lofgren, Riverside,Conn., assignor to Electrolux Corporation, New York, N. Y., acorporation of New York Application October 10, 1942, Serial No. 461,520

1 Claims. (01. 183-37) I serted therebetween. At the bottom of'the ss-This invention relates to improvements in vacuum cleaners. Inparticular, it relates to a vacuum cleaner or the type embodying acasing housing a motor-fan unit and a dirt separator which is adaptedfor connection to a flexible hose on the end of which a cleaning toolmay be placed. 'When it is desired to clean in different parts of aroom, the casing, which is mounted on wheels or runners, may be pulledaround by the hose. The invention also relates to animproved deviceincluding a vacuum cleaner for discharging a mothprooflng material intoa garment bag.

One of the principal objects of the invention is to provide an improveddisposition of the parts of a vacuum cleaner. Another object of theinvention is to provide an improved arrangement of the parts of acombined vacuum. cleaner and vaporizer. Other objects and advantages ofthe device will appear hereinafter as the description of the inventionproceeds.

In the drawings, Fig. 1 is a side elevation of the vacuum cleanershowing the parts assembled for cleaning a floor. Fig. 2 is a sideelevation of the vacuum cleaner showing the parts assembled for thevaporization of a mothproofing material and the discharge thereof into agarment bag.

Figs. 3, 4, and 5 are front and rear elevations and a top viewrespectively. Fig. 6 is an elevation of the vacuum cleaner mostly insection. Fig. '7 is a sectional view in elevation of the motor-fan andfine particle filter unit. Fig. 8 is a. bottom view partly in section ofthe last mentioned unit. Fig. 9 is a sectional view taken on the line9-9 of Fig. 8. Fig. 10 is a sectional view on an enlarged scale of thejunction between the unit and the rest of the vacuum cleaner. Fig. -11is asection taken on the line Il--ll of Fig. 6. 'Fig..1.2 is a sectiontaken on the line l2-l2' of Fig. .11," but with the elements ii and 52in overlapping closed position. Fig. 13 is a sectional view through thedirt drawer of the vacuum cleaner, showing the latching mechanismtherefor.

Referring to Fig. 1, there is shown a hollow casing 2 for the mainportion of the vacuum cleaner designated generally by the referencecharacter I. A flexible hose 3 is connected to an opening 5 in thecasing2 and may be disengaged therefrom by means of the latch 19. The otherend of the hose is provided with a combination handle and tool-connector6 which is shown to be in the shape of an elbow to facilitate the use ofa tool connected thereto. A suction cleaning tool 1 may be directlyconnected to the handle 6 or an extension tube 8 may be ining 2 there isa sliding dirt drawer lohavins a latching mechanism controlled by handle[8. Thelatching'mechanism engages catch'mean's in the wall of the casingshown at 64. The casing 2 is supported on runners H which space thebottom of the casing from a flat supporting surface and permit thecasing to be easily pulled over the surface. The casing may be liftedand carried. by means of a handle l2 pivoted at I3. There isan electricplug connector 14 to which an electric cord from a suitable power supplymay be connected. A switch I! controls the completion of the electriccircuit to the electric motor inside of the cleaner. A unit l6containing all of the moving parts of the cleaner is inserted through anopening in the top of the casing 2 and is held in place by manuallatchmeans ll.

There is an opening IS in the top of the casing at one side thereofleading into a pocket or compartment 69 of the casing which may be usedeither for carrying cleaning tools orfor sup-.

porting a vaporizable substance used in mothprooflng, as is indicated atin Fig. 2. There is an opening 2| in the side of the casing 2 leadinginto the pocket. As shown in Fig. 5, there is a perforated plate 20 nearthe bottom of the pocket separating the opening l9 from the opening 2|.There is an exhaust opening 9 in the top of the unit ii.

In Fig. 2 there is shown the apparatus set up for use in connection witha garment bag for producing rapid vaporization of a mothprooflngmaterial into the air inside of the bag. The garment bag 49 has anopening in the bottom thereof at 48 which is slipped over the top of thevacuum cleaner. This opening may have a draw string or an elastioband orother means for making a tight connection with the sides of the casing2. Thecleaning tool I has been disconnected from the connector 8 and theconnector 6 has been inserted in the opening 2| so that air entering thevacuum cleaner must ente through the opening l9 and pass over thevaporizable material 65. After passing over the vaporizable mothprooflngmaterial 65, the air enters the connector 6 and flows through the hose 3into the inlet opening Sin 'the casing 2. The motor-fan unit inside ofthe casing draws the air into the casing 2 and exhausts it through theopening 4! into the interior of the garment bag 49. Since all airentering the cleaner comes. from within the garment ba it ls seen that arecirculating system is provided by means of which the air in thegarment bag, which is quickly heated from connected thereto by asuitable fastening means designated by the reference character 50 (seeFig. The ring '23 and the fabric 22 need be removed only on thoseinfrequent occasions who it is necessary to replace the fabric. Thesemi-permeable fabric 22 divides the casing 2 into an upper and lowerchamber, the fabric 22 being formed generally into the shape of a bag orcup. Within the upper chamber the periphery of the casing 34 and thecover 38, re-

- openings in the sides of the cover 38. The genunit It is mounted. Theunit "rests upon the flange 66. The unit 16 contains a motor 25, the

housing of which is connected, as at 28, by means of bolts and a gasket,in airtight relationship drawer.

eral path of the flow of air is indicated in Fig. 9 by arrows.

Referring now to Figs. 11 through 13, there is shownthe construction ofthe dirt drawer 10.

'At one endof the dirt drawer there are swinging doors I! and 52 pivotedat '53 and Shrespectively.. When the drawer is removed from the vacuumcleaner. the springs 55 and 55 force the doors into a position to closethe end of the When the drawer is inserted into the cleaner, however,the tube 4 for coupling the air conduit penetrates within the drawer andopens the doors 5! and 52. The springs 53 and 55 are normally e notsufliciently strong to force the drawer out of the cleaner against thefriction caused by the weight of the drawer. In any case, however, thedrawer will be held in place in the cleaner by means of latches 63 whichengage recesses formed in the casing asat 64 (see Fig. 1).

Fig. 13 shows the arrangement of the latching with the casing 21 of atwo stage fan 26,. The

motor 25 is preferably a series motor adapted to be operated either fromalternating or direct current. The casing 21 is provided with atubularopening 3 t, by means of which the fan and of the motor-fan unit is,resiliently supported in bulkhead 36 on a rubber ring 29. The ring hasslots cuttherein to improve the vibration deadening qualities thereof.The bearing at the commuta-l tor end of the motor-fan unit isresiliently supq ported in bulkhead 33 by means of a rubber ringperforations 31 therein. I

"The bottom of the casing 34 surrounding the motor-ia'n unit is open anda wire screen or other ioraminous member 43 is supported therein withina rolled bead 61. The screen protects the motor-fan unit against theentrance of pins and needles, etc., should it be operated separatelyirom the rest'oi the cleaner. Against the screen 43 there is placed apad of matted or felted .fibres which serves as a fine particle filterto re, move from the air tiny particles which pass through thesemi-permeable fabric 22. The pad 45 preferably is made up of a layer ofcotton padding and a layer of carded cotton enclosedbetween two layersof napped flannel. The fine particle filter is held in place by means oia cover 3:8 which fits over the end of the casing '34-and is heldthereto by means of knurled nuts 39 which engage studded bolts on thecasing 34. The cover 38 has an inwardly dished portion 40 which contactsthe center of the fine "particle filter 45. There are apertures 41 inthe sides of the cover '38 and apertures 42 in the bottom thereof. v

As best shown in Figs. 6,=--'8 and 9., therge are perforatedmembers 46and 41 comprising a bumber or flanged plates spaced .around-the outermechanism. On the end of the handle ll there are crown gear sectors 51(see also Fig. 6). The handle I 8 is pivoted at 58 to the end of thedrawer I0 and has fixed thereto crown gear sectors '51 which engage spurgears '59 which in turn engage spur gear. sectors 60. The spur gearsectors Bl also include.cam faces 5| which are held in contact with camfollower rollers 68 on latch member 83 by means of springs '62. .It canbe seen from the drawings that when the handle 18 is pulled outwardly,the cam 61 is operated in a direction to permit the retraction of thelatch member 63, thereby permitting the drawer to be withdrawn by amotion of the handle 18 in the same direction as the drawer moves whenit is withdrawn.

Having now described the general construction of the combined vacuumcleaner and vaporizer,

its use and operation may be briefly outlined.

With the hose 3 connected to the opening '5 of the vacuumcleaner and theconnector 6 coupled to a cleanin tool, as shown in Fig. 1, the apparatusaybe operated as an ordinary vacuum cleaner. Air. will be drawn inthrough the cleaning tool I and conduit 3 into the opening 5 and thencethrough the semi-permeable fabric 22 into the unit Hi. When the sairenters the drawer lli its velocity is decreased and its direction ischanged so that heavy dirt and dust particles entering with the air willbe thrown toward the far side of the drawer and will settle to thebottom. Smaller particles which are not thus caught will be stopped ythe semi-"permeable :fabric .22 and will either be caught-thereon or'wi1l fa'1l into the'dirt drawer Microscopic particles of material whichmay pass through the semipermeable falbric will :be carried with the airto the openings in the bottom of the unit il i. In

" order to enter the interior of the .unit IB, they and into themotordan :the air passes by the motor it serves to cool same. I=leavesthe motor after passing over the :commu tator'and out through openingsin the end cap and finally passes around the rubbersound deadeningmember Ill through openings 31 in the bulkhead 33 and out the exhaustport 9'.

Continued operation of the cleaner will cause dirt to accumulate in thedirt drawer and on the semi-permeable fabric. To maintain manimumcleaner efilciency' the fabric should be shaken'to free it fromparticles of dirt caught thereon and the dirt drawer should be emptiedafter each use of the cleaner. The fabric should be shaken while thedrawer is in place so that the dirt falling therefrom can be removedwith that already in the drawer. .To get at the fabric the latches IIare unfastened and the unit It removed. The fabric can then be turnedinside out and shaken into the drawer. To remove .the drawer it isnecessary only to pull on its handle which automatically unlatches it.After the drawer is emptied and replaced, pressure on the handle inshoving the drawer home automatically latches it in place.

It is only after protracted operation of the cleaner that the passagesof the fine particle illter becomes suiilciently clogged to impair theefilciency of the machine; When this ,does happen the unit It is removedfrom the cleaner casing and the thumb screws 39 are unscrewed so thatthe cover 38 may be taken 011. The fine particle fllteris then removedand replaced and themachine may again be assembled for use.

If it is desired to usethe vacuum cleaner to operate a blowing devicesuch as a sprayer, the hose 3 may be disconnected from the opening 5 andconnected to the opening 9. The sprayer or other blower device may beconnected to the connector 6. When the push button switch I5 is operatedto close the circuit to the electric motor, the fan 28 will draw air inthrough the opening 5 and over the path previously described and outthrough the opening 9 into the conduit 3 to operate the blowing device.

If it is desired to use the vacuum cleaner as a vaporizer for amothproofer or other air conditioning material, the connector 6 01' thehose 3 may be inserted into the opening 2| and the other end of the hoseconnected either to opening 5 or opening 9. Operation of the motor-fanunit will then cause air either to be drawn in or blown out through theopening I! and in either case, it will pass over the air conditioningmaterial resting on the perforated plate 20. If the vacuum cleaner isconnected so that air is drawn into the opening [9, a flaked orgranulated material may be used in the pocket 60. However, if thecleaner is connected so as to blow air out through the opening l8, itwould be preferable to use a solid cake of material within the pocket 89or else to enclose the flakes within a porous container. When used as avaporizer, the vacuum cleaner can be connected to a garment bag as shownin Fig. 2 or it can be placed within a closed closet. In either case,the vacuum cleaner serves to rapidly vaporize a mothproofer or other airconditioning agent and to saturate the air in the garment bag or thecloset with the vapor. The vacuum cleaner may also be connected as Justdescribed and placedin an open room to purify the air therein byremoving pollen, dust, and microscopic organisms floating therein and tokill bacteria therein. When the cleaner is thus used as anair-conditioner, the pocket 89 may be filled with some material whichhas a germicidal action and also preferably which has a pleasant ticlefilter 45' may also be impregnated with a germicide similar to thatplaced in the pocket ll.

accessible while those parts which need rarely be touched are so mountedas to be out of the way where they will not unnecessarily be disturbed.While one preferred embodiment of the invention has been described, itis obvious that many modifications therein may be made without departingfrom'the invention. For example, other forms of coupling means thanthose shown might be used in'the openings I, 9 and 2|. The dirt drawerIt might be formed with no end wall thereby eliminating'the necessityfor the doors 5| and 52. A variety of other forms of latching meansmight be substituted for that connected to the handle l8. The cleanermight be supported on wheels instead of the runners I I. The spacingmembers 46 and 41 might be formed as a separate unit removable from thecleaner separately from the unit [6 or they might be formed as asingle'perforated cylinder bolted to the top of the unit It. Themotor-fan unit mightbe resiliently suDDQ fted in a single central planeinstead of by means of the two bulkheads '33 and 36. It is intended toprotect by these Letters Patent all forms of the invention fallingwithin the scope of the appended claims.

What I claim is:

I. A vacuum cleaner comprising a first hollow casing having a firstopening near the bottom thereof and a second opening near the topthereof, a bag shaped semi-permeable fabric sup ported in said casingwith a mouth of the bag coincident and adjacent said second opening,said fabric separating said easing into upper and lower chambers, thelower chamber constituting casing that all air flowing through thesecond casing must pass through the fine particle filter, an electriccord connector for connecting said electric means to a source of power,and an electric switch for controlling said electric means,

said connector and switch being mounted on said second casing at the topthereof, said unit including said fine particle filter being removablethrough said second opening.

2. A vacuum cleaner comprising a hollow casing divided by asemi-permeable fabric into two chambers,.said fabric having a cupshapedportion with its mouth adjacent an opening in one of the chambers of thecasing, and a, unit insertable through said opening into said cup shapedodor. In such case, or in any case, the w...

an electric connector, and wires connecting the motor with saidconnector, whereby said unit including said filter and electricconnector is removable as an integral unit from said casing. 1

3. A vacuum cleaner comprising a housing divided by a. semi-permeablefabric into two chambers and a unit insertable through an opening insaid housing into one of said chambers, means for removably securingsaid unit in place, said unit comprising a hollow casing havingapertures at opposite ends thereof, a direct coupled motorfan a'ssemblyresiliently supported therein, a fine particle filter supported thereinin such a position that air flowing through said'casing must passthrough the pad, an electric connector mounted on the casing, and wiresconnecting the connector to the motor, whereby said unit including saidfilter and electric connector is removable as an integral unit from saidcasing.

4. In a vacuum cleaner, a casing formed with an inlet opening and asecond opening, a bag shaped dust separating member having an open mouthpermanently fixed in sealing relation to 'said casing around said secondopening and normally extending into said casing, a motor-fan unitremovably secured to said casing around said second opening andextending into said casing within said dust separating member, said unitincluding an imperforate cylindrical casing, constituting the exteriorportion, a perforated rigid structure secured in spaced relationship tothe exterior portion of said unit which is within said dust separatingmember for spacing the latter from said unit, said unit having an airinlet within said dust separating member and an exhaust opening outsidesaid casing.

' 5. In a vacuum cleaner, a casing formed with an inlet opening and asecond opening, said sec: ond opening being in an upper substantiallyhorizontal wall of said casing, a bag shaped dust separating memberhaving an open mouth fixed to said casing around said second opening'andnormally dependinginto said casing, a motorfan unit removably secured tosaid casing around said second opening and extending into said casingwithin said dust separating member, said unit including an imperforatecylindrical casing having an air inlet within said dust separating member and an exhaust opening outside said casing, and a removable dustreceiving receptacle normally positioned below said dust separatingmember. 6. A vacuum cleaner comprising a hollow casing, a dustseparating screen within said casing, a hose coupling in the lowerportion thereof, extending inwardly from an opening in said lowerportion, a dirt receptacle removably mounted in said lower portion andremovable through a second opening thereof, said receptacle having anaperture in one side thereof through which said hose coupling extendswhen said receptacle is o seated within said casing and means forautomatically closing said aperture as an incident to removal of saidreceptacle from said casing.

7. A vacuum cleaner comprising a hollow casing, a dust separating screenwithin said casing, a hose coupling in the lower portion thereof,extending inwardly from an opening in said lower portion, a dirtreceptacle removably mounted in said lower portion and removable througha second opening thereof, said receptacle having an aperture in one sidethrough which the hose coupling extends, closure means for said apertureoperable to open position by contact with said coupling, spring meansautomatically closing said aperture on removal of said receptacle,

said spring means being too weak to cause movement of said receptacledue to the pressure exerted thereon after the reception through saidopening ofsaid hose coupling.

GUSTAF EINAR LOFGREN.

